


No greater weapon than power

by damnata



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Action, Demons, M/M, Malec in battle, Prince of Hell Magnus Bane, Serious Injuries, Some Fluff, battle fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-08 18:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19475794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damnata/pseuds/damnata
Summary: Magnus then turned his attention towards the demons and Alec´s brows knitted together in confusion as his husband started to emit strange sounds, hisses and growls and klicks that seemed to form words and sentences.The demons stopped, their beady eyes focusing on Magnus.Chthonic.Magnus was speaking Chthonic.





	No greater weapon than power

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime between the wedding that was and Alec becoming the Inquisitor.

Alec grunted in pain as his back collided with a brick wall before slumping on his side on the wet concrete. He could feel the ache in his bones, the ringing in his ears and the taste of blood in his mouth as his fingers scraped the ground to find purchase so he could heave himself on his feet.

There was a heavy sulphuric stench of demon ichor in the air as large pools of the oil-like substance could be found all around the battleground. Alec hissed as the tips of his fingers came to contact with it, coiling back at the burn.

“Alexander!” Magnus called from somewhere in the haze and Alec´s eyes instantly searched for his husband.

He couldn´t find him. There were too many demons, at least six dozen, their writhing tentacles flailing about, throwing the shadowhunters in his squad into nearby buildings, just as they had Alec, gripping, choking and tearing into the men and women serving under him.

Into Magnus.

His husband called out for him again and against the pain consuming his body, Alec dragged himself on his feet, feeling thankful for the armour Izzy had created and reinforced in New York Institute.

It was most likely the only reason they were still alive.

Their armour was crafted from thin plates of adamas, covered with a thick layer of black tanned leather. The largest item in the armour was the chest piece that included the largest sheets of metal, strapped to the front and back of the upper torso and smaller, scale-like pieces that wrapped around the waist, allowing for sharp twists and turns that were vital when fighting demons of all kinds.

The shoulders and neck area were also reinforced with a high collar to protect the shadowhunters from decapitation and even their legs were protected with sheets of metal to protect the major arteries located there.

In Alec´s personal gear there were also arm guards, a spaulder for his left shoulder and a pair of archery gloves that were all meant to protect his hands and keep him in top condition in order to keep fighting. 

“We have been without proper protection for too long,” Isabelle had huffed as he forced Alec into her first prototype of the armour. “What kind of warriors go to battle in leather jackets?”

She had been right, of course. The rate of injuries occurring during patrol had lessened by half and there hadn´t been any deaths amongst their ranks for months.

Alec dazedly leaned against the wall he had just been thrown in, stupidly staring at the cracks in the brick, left by his back before during towards the scene of mayhem behind him.

They were kind of fucked, Alec knew that. The rumours of a small hell-portal opening in the Bronx had turned out to be a major infestation of multiple demons straight from the ruins of Edom and soon enough, even with Magnus closing the portal, they were outnumbered nine to one.

He rolled his shoulders, shaking his head to get rid of the blur that persisted in his vision and quickly activating the iratze traced on the inside of his wrist before once again looking for his husband.

Alec spotted him then.

Magnus was almost all the way across the battlefield, his back pressed against the wall of a warehouse and his hands alight with red magic. He seemed alive and well, except for a cut on his forehead that had coated half of his face in blood and deep dents in the chestpiece Alec had bribed him into.

He was just about to make his way to him when a deafening screech came out of nowhere and the large slug-like body of the brood mother crashed the battleground, its spiked tentacles slamming into two of his soldiers, causing them to crumple on the ground a dozen feet away.

“Fuck!” Alec hissed as he turned and ran, trusting his husband to defend himself. He sprinted towards one of the warehouses, his feet clanking against the metal wall of the building as he launched himself towards a cluster of pipes hanging down the side of it, using the inertia gained from his speed to throw himself on the railings and then, with swift catlike movements, up onto the slippery roof.

His left knee hit the roof with a quiet thud and he gripped the body of his bow, whispering the name Camael as he willed his bow and arrows to materialize. Nocking the arrow, Alec pulled the string tight, letting the cries of his soldiers and the hissing of the demons clear from his mind as he took aim.

Knowing that hitting the demon in one of its many eyes would be useless, Alec targeted its neck area, specifically the very small gap that was visible between the plates of its dark exoskeleton as it moved, giving him a chance to hit its brain through the mental foramen if he just angled his shot right.

He let the arrow fly just to watch it splinter as it hit the thick plates.

Alec let two more arrows loose but they were of no use, the demon moving about too erratically for him to get a clear shot. He ground his teeth and deactivated his bow, forcing the body of it in his thigh-holster and instead reaching for the adamas-reinforced rope on his hip that had a sharp hook at the end.

Taking a deep breath, Alec vaulted off the roof, the hook glinting dully under the street lamps as the rope coiled around the demon´s neck, the metal lodging itself in the rancid flesh between its sharp teeth. 

He landed on the demon´s back with a huff, feeling the tender skin of his palms tear as he desperately clung to the rope, the soles of his boots sliding on the slippery surface of its exoskeleton. 

The demon roared, its ugly head thrashing from side to side in an effort to dislodge the hook and throw the shadowhunter off its back as its tentacles flew through the air aimlessly. 

Alec grabbed one of the spikes growing out of the exoskeleton, managing to almost take his own eye out on it as he bent down to avoid a tentacle cruising over his head. With great effort, he climbed towards the back of the demon´s head, encouraged by every flash of Magnus´ magic he captured in the corner of his eye until he finally reached the small gap between the plates.

Grasping one of his daggers, Alec forced it between the plates, his fingers burning from the ichor as his whole hand slipped into the wound.

The dagger wasn´t long enough.

“Fuck!” Alec yelled out of frustration, pulling the dagger out and stabbing it back in the wound, again and again, causing the demon to let out a long, painful wail. He had lost his blade a long time ago, having it gotten stuck in the skull of one of the countless demons before it trampled off and the arrows were too thin to force into the muscle by hand.

But there were some that didn´t need to go deep.

He reached over his shoulder to his quiver, his fingers thumbing through the fletchings, feeling the pattern of the feathers and plastic as he tried to find the right one.

Alec finally found it, shorter and wider than the rest of his arrows. One of Izzy´s finest creations.

He plunged the arrow in the wound he had created between the plates of the demon´s exoskeleton, barely managing to twist the nock of the arrow just as a tentacle wrapped around him and he was hoisted off the demon´s back and into the air before being slammed down against the pavement. Repeatedly.

Alec could feel multiple bones in his body break as he connected with the ground, his arms that he had raised to protect his head being one of the firsts. With bleary eyes, he watched the brood mother above him, its huge mouth opening in preparation to devouring him whole.

And then the arrow finally detonated and the demon´s head was blown off its shoulders with an almost deafening blast, ichor raining down in steaming droplets.

His body hit the ground for the final time, the vile tentacle still curled around his middle loosening. Distantly he noticed the tremors that wrecked the ground as the demon´s colossal body crumpled next to him.

Alec could hear the slithering sound of the lesser demons crawling towards him, probably sensing weak prey. He was just about to close his eyes, weak against the idea of his death when Magnus appeared above him, his hand painfully pressing against his cracked chest as waves of magic rushed into his body.

“I´m here, darling,” He could hear Magnus say frantically while he stupidly stared up to his husband´s catlike eyes, a frail groan tumbling from his lips.

Magnus then turned his attention towards the demons and Alec´s brows knitted together in confusion as his husband started to emit strange sounds, hisses and growls and klicks that seemed to form words and sentences.

The demons stopped, their beady eyes focusing on Magnus.

_Chthonic. ___

__Magnus was speaking Chthonic. A language that Alec had learned at one point although it was a long time since he heard it, even longer since he spoke it._ _

__Still, he could somewhat understand it._ _

__“Stop,” Magnus seemed to say. “Listen to me. You know my blood...father. I command...as you are beneath me. You belong to me and you will do as I say.”_ _

__Alec looked on with wonder as the demons seemed to bow to Magnus before turning against each other and even themselves. Wet squelches filled the air as the demon's tentacles pierced the flesh of their brethren. Some of the demons seemed to be choking themselves, their own tentacles wrapped around their necks and a few tore their own chests open._ _

__Magnus´ eyes glowed, the red flames of magic that had circled his arms now licking at his neck as he let his power show. His true power, his demonic birthright to the throne of Edom._ _

__The air was filled with screams and gurgles until the last of the demons dropped on the ground._ _

__And then it was quiet, eerily so as the whole of New York seemed to hold its breath._ _

__It was finally over._ _

__The oldest of the carcasses started to burn away slowly, the embers filling the sky like tiny fireflies, reaching higher and higher before flickering out as the shadowhunters hurried to tend for their wounded._ _

__With Magnus´ magic repairing his body Alec could see the scared looks some of his soldiers regarded his husband with. Could hear the words “prince of hell” and “son of Asmodeus” thrown about in hushed tones._ _

__By saving them, Magnus had alienated himself once again. His secret out for everyone to judge._ _

__“Magnus,” Alec sighed quietly, reaching out to take his husband´s hand in his own, the blood coating them both sticky between their fingers. “I love you. Thank you.”_ _

__“It´s nothing,” Magnus replied with a sad smile. “I love you too.”_ _

__But it wasn´t “nothing”. It was everything, a secret so big that Magnus had hesitated to tell Alec even when their love for one another was already tested and tried. A secret that sowed fear into weaker minds and hatred into those that were small._ _

__“I will talk to them tomorrow,” Alec said, one of his already healed arms rising as he tenderly tried to brush some of the blood from Magnus´ cheek, only making it worse. “This won´t get out. They know better than to cross me. They will understand eventually once they get their heads straight.”_ _

__“Tomorrow,” Magnus agreed, leaning into Alec´s touch. They were both tired and hurt, shaken after such a close call. “Right now I want to take you home.”_ _

__“Yeah,” Alec gingerly tried to move his legs, happy to note that Magnus had successfully healed the damage to his spinal cord._ _

__He didn´t think he could ever thank Magnus enough for everything he did for him, for everyone else._ _

__For Alec, he had always been more of an angel than a demon, bloodlines be damned._ _

__“Let´s go home.”_ _


End file.
